Hasegawa took the title from long reigning champion Jutaro Nakao(Pictures) last February, while Kim has been
on fire in the DEEP ring, going undefeated in his five appearances
and knocking out his last three opponents.

Throughout this bout it was quite obvious Hasegawa wanted nothing
to do with Kim on the feet. The champion was constantly rushing in
for the clinch or going for the takedown on the dangerous striker,
but Kim proved to be very difficult to get to the mat, sprawling
Hasegawa's shots and keeping his balance in the clinch.

The long-limbed Korean delivered most of his damage while standing
by circling the ring and connecting punches from a distance and
while in the guard, Kim used his reach to connect with heavy
punches.

By the end of the second round Hasegawa's face was bruised and
swollen, testament to the effectiveness of the unmarked Kim's
strikes.

Kim continued to pelt the champion in the third, connecting a
vicious kick to the face while Hasegawa was down on the mat. After
Hasegawa was ordered back to his feet by the referee, Kim quickly
scurried to his back and pulled off a big suplex, dropping Hasegawa
onto his shoulders. The impact from the suplex stunned the
champion, allowing Kim to easily take the mount and deliver down
punches on his defenseless opponent.

Hasegawa was out after the first couple of punches, and with only
three seconds remaining in the final round, the referee stopped the
onslaught, giving Kim the TKO victory.

Ironically, with this victory, Kim is now in line for another shot
against Hasegawa, this time for the title.

Watanabe, perhaps one of the best female strikers in Japan, was on
the receiving end a lot in this one. Matsumoto connected with a big
right hand off the bell and continued to land throughout the
duration of the fight, largely dominating in the striking
department.

The Club Barbarian fighter got all of the takedowns on the
champion, but Watanabe looked a little sharper on the ground, going
for Kimuras and armbars while on her back. Despite this, Miku was
still able to pass guard and reverse to top position.

Towards the end of the second round, Matsumoto went for a leg
submission before the final bell, but she could not finish and the
fight went to the judges. Matsumoto was awarded the majority
decision, giving her the DEEP women's title.

DEEP lightweight champion Kazunori Yokota(Pictures) was supposed to square off
against Anthony
McDavitt(Pictures), but the American fighter was
nearly seven pounds over the contracted 155-pound weight limit. As
a result, he was pulled from the event.

Short a fighter, the DEEP brass pulled Minoru Tavares
Tsuchiya from his scheduled undercard bout to fight the
champion in a non-title affair. With only one fight on his record,
this was definitely a big chance for the Hard Combat fighter.

Yokota displayed an excellent sprawl throughout, avoiding the many
takedown attempts that Tsuchiya threw against him. After a failed
shot, Yokota passed the guard to side-control. From here he applied
an armbar. Tsuchiya did a good job of defending until the champion
freed the arm and extended the technique, forcing a tap at the 3:53
mark of the first round.

DEEP featherweight champion Masakazu Imanari(Pictures) began pulling out this usual
theatrics early on in his non-title bout against Korean Kim Jong
Man, standing sideways to his opponent and moving strangely around
the ring.

Jong Man looked a bit hesitant to attack the unpredictable Japanese
fighter, but eventually knocked Imanari to the canvas with a
grazing punch.

Once in the champion's guard, Jong Man narrowly escaped an armbar
only to find himself seconds later in another. This time there was
no chance to escape, and that tap came at 3:28 of the first
round.

But just as it seemed like things were going his way, Tomioka
connected with a big right hand at the ropes, stunning the Shooto
veteran. From here Tomioka continued with a big unanswered flurry
of punches to the chin until the referee stopped the bout at 3:12
of the second round.

Ryuichi Murata(Pictures) had some great judo hip
tosses in his bout against Soujirou Ohrui(Pictures), but couldn't capitalize on them
before the SK Absolute fighter worked his way back to his feet. The
bout went to the judges and was ruled a draw.

Yang Dong-Li scored an early takedown and pounded from half-guard
against Keigo Takamori,
forcing the referee to stop the bout at the 1:57 mark to give the
Korean fighter the TKO victory.

Grabaka jiu-jitsu ace Takeshi Yamasaki largely controlled on the
ground in his bout against Toshiaki Kitada, passing
the guard and working for the back. The bout went the distance and
Yamazaki was awarded the majority decision.